Ruidoso fire forcing evacuations

The governor of New Mexico Sunday evening addressed a packed gymnasium full of Ruidoso-area residents, promising all available state resources to help fight the massive forest fire ravaging Lincoln County.

Outside the gym, national guardsmen directed traffic as the smoke from the Little Bear fire towered overhead.

“We are here. We stand with you,” Gov. Susana Martinez told the crowd.

The blaze has scorched roughly 27,000 acres and damaged at least 36 structures.

That number is expected to rise, officials said, when an accurate damage assessment is possible.

No new structures have burned in the last 12 hours.

Martinez implored the audience to heed warnings if they are asked to evacuate.

“When it is time to evacuate, please — without hesitation — evacuate,” Martinez said. “If you don’t, you are putting someone else’s life at risk.”

Martinez toured the fire Sunday and said it was remarkable how much it had spread since Friday.

High winds and relative humidity in the single digits literally fanned the fire, which spread rapidly Friday and Saturday. Also, crews are fighting the fire in extreme terrain at a 70-degree angle.

Martinez said she’d be in Ruidoso for the next three days to see first-hand what is needed and to ensure the state is provided all available resources.

“I want to be with the people,” she said. “So we’re going to be with the people who are being impacted.”

Martinez already had 100 guardsmen in place Sunday evening, with another 100 scheduled to arrive late Sunday night.

High winds limited the aerial assault Saturday and Sunday, said Carl Schwope, with the Southwest Incident Management Team.

Officials were hopeful today, with favorable wind, smoke and visibility conditions, they could take to the skies.

“We have a lot of big aircraft we can fly to help these fire fighters,” Schwope said.

Crews were working to keep the fire north of State Highways 220 and 532 and south of State Highway 380.

Fire fighters even used snow making machines at Ski Apache Resort to help slow the spread of the fire, which was 0 percent contained Sunday night.

Schwope said he expected that containment number to start rising soon.